The city’s sewage fiasco has much more to do with the processes not followed and less to do with how damaging the sewage may have been to the environment.
The focus of this sorry saga should be on the City of Kamloops’ stunning decision to hide from residents the fact its employees screwed up and allowed about five-million litres of sewage to drain into the South Thompson River last September.
More interesting is how KTW learned this week that not even city councillors — save perhaps Mayor Peter Milobar — were told of the spill when it occurred eight months ago.
Apparently, our elected representatives learned of it earlier this week, when the city was ordered to pay $30,000 in fines via creek-habitat work out past the airport and installation of alarms on its sewage system.
More perplexing is how some at city hall essentially shrugged their shoulders when asked why the city kept the accident from the public for more than a half-year, until it appeared at an environmental justice forum on May 6 and was ordered to pay the fine.
From public works director Jen Fretz to the mayor to city councillors Denis Walsh and Donovan Cavers, the uniform response has been there was no need to inform the public because there was no immediate threat to residents.
Contrast that stance with the fact the City of Kamloops issues press releases on virtually every minor political bowel movement emanating from city hall.
The city is extremely active in the press-release department and should be commended for its robust dialogue, which makes the silence over the sewage spill so peculiar.
In this case, it appears as though the city consulted the local RCMP on how to not release information that is in the public interest.
A body in Kamloops Lake? Ah, we can wait a few days to report it publicly. Two Olympic-sized swimming pools full of crap flowing into the river? Ah, we can wait more than a few months to tell residents
The initial mistake was an honest one — an employee turned the wrong handle and, instead of shutting down a sprinkler system, the action shut down a pipe leading to the Dallas lift station.
The honest mistake was followed by a not-so-honest error when city employees in charge of checking computer readings every 12 hours failed to do so — for 13 days, from Sept. 15, 2014, to Sept. 28, 2014.
As Fretz told us, the initial mistake pales in comparison with the incompetence that followed, negligence she said has led to “very serious” discipline.
Were employees fired? Suspended? Demoted?
The city won’t say, but Fretz did add: “What was a huge, major error was this lack of following procedures and protocol.”
One could argue the city itself committed a “huge, major error” in its lack of transparency with the public when it learned of the five-million-litre spill caused by negligence.
One could argue the city also committed a “huge, major error” when it did not do as it was required to do and tell the Tk’emlups Indian Band, the Interior Health Authority and other agencies of the spill.
Milobar told KTW the incident was not a major event, considering the volume of sewage relative to the volume of water in the river. He pointed to the $30,000 in fines as showing the incident was “very minor.”
One might disagree with labelling as minor millions of litres of sewage flowing into the river.
Nevertheless, if the spill itself was minor, the city’s cloak-and-dagger response was not.
The incident revealed a disturbing level of incompetence among those we pay handsome salaries.
It also revealed the city’s utter disregard for its residents and makes one wonder what else has happened in Kamloops that has yet to see the light of day.
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